Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They [all humans] are endowed with reason and conscience and should act in a spirit of brotherhood. The Graça Machel Trust, through an approach of Pan African collective action concerns itself with ensuring and realising women and childrenâs potentials to remain at the forefront of Africaâs development agenda. Mrs. Machel has always highlighted the fact that women make an important and ever-growing contribution to African economies in spite of the socio economic challenges that they face as they handle both domestic and professional responsibilities. Even under circumstances where the playing field is not level, their determination, hard work and resourcefulness demonstrate the resilience of African females.
That being said I truly believe that the violation of womenâs human rights greatly undermines the growth and development of the potential of women being fully realised. In the case of South Africa this has been manifest in the stark rise in gender base violence, femicide, rape, and brutal incidents of violence on womenâs bodies. Dr. Mamphela Ramphela perfectly articulates how, âthere is a cruel irony in having the best constitutional legal and policy framework to promote gender equality and respect for human rights, and yet to have the highest recorded gender based violence in the world.â Furthermore, the South African Medical Research Council estimates that, on average, three women are killed daily by their partners. What is more heart wrenching is the reality that at least 40% of these women were victims of intimate partner violence (SA Medical Council, 2017).
At its essence, human rights speak to the dignity of human life being held up at the highest regard by all humans. South Africa, however, has a gruesome and vicious multi- generational cycle of violence, more specifically gender based violence. The problem of gender based violence is a micro household issue that has macro socio economic consequences. Men are the perpetuators of this violence against women, as such, it is male allies to the feminist agenda that have the responsibility to bring about the required changed. Men need to take up the baton to have the difficult conversations with their fellow brethren to bring about a paradigm shift in adult male behavior and the way in which men view the dignity, freedom and protection of womenâs agency, lives and bodies.
Much research and work has been done to prove that more needs to be done to address the abusive nature of wounded men who have a distorted view of masculinity that leaves them constantly needing to violently re-enforce their manhood on womenâs bodies. Toxic masculinity has allowed for the normality of gender based violence, widespread rape and femicide to be deeply systematically and institutionally entrenched in our societies. All these are tale tell signs and symptoms of a detrimental issue of violence within our societies that has been left to fester for far too long.
As times have changed and societies evolved so too has the expected role of men changed, however, even with all this change we find that culture and religion remain steadfast in their socialization of men. This coupled with the legacy of being a fatherless nation due to the conscious breaking down of the Black nuclear family during the apartheid regime has only resulted in a multitude of men falling victim to a fragile patriarchal system.
- In South the situation has truly proven to be dire as over 60% of South African homes are fatherless
- The sairr report concludes that children who grow up without the stability a father brings to a home are more susceptible to depression and other emotional distress.
- The report is also very telling of how boys who grow up without their fathers are more likely to exhibit extreme aggression.
- Fatherlessness has a snowball effect that results in a generation of young adults who are ‘social misfits’. We also know from research that boys growing up in absent father households are more likely to display hyper masculine behaviour, including different forms of aggression, getting involved in unhealthy relationships, crime and addiction.
This leaves one wondering whether the aggression fomenting in fatherless homes has any correlation to the more than 2.1 million crimes committed in South Africa in 2017. What makes this question ever more pressing is data collected by Statistics South Africa in 2016 which provide the shocking fact that 15-to-34-year-olds are the demographic most likely to commit crimes . The stark reality of the above speaks to the reality of how the patriarchal system has only served to continuously fail men and their abilities to meet the expectations and pressures that society has on them. This failure has in many cases manifest itself in men being an embodiment of violence and power.
As a women working in an organization that seeâs the coming together of women to Amplify womenâs voices and Multiply womenâs faces I wish to make an appeal to all our male allies to take the lead in having bold conversations on the entrenchment of womenâs humanâs rights through GBV.
As we look to further our aspirations of attaining Human Rights for all in our country and continent may our male allies make strides bringing about a wave of change that will see the dignity of women being respected. May the beginning of this wave of change start in the micro household spaces which will see the private and intimate spaces where men congregate and perpetuate their ill treatment of women become the very same private and intimate spaces where men express their activism for the promotion and protection of womenâs rights. The respect of our human rights means dignified women who can reach further and wider in their growth and development which in term means that our country and continent becomes that much closer to attaining development that seeâs everyone benefiting!
By Mpilo Shabangu.
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting childrenâs rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Childrenâs Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescentsâ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trustâs goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a motherâs health and social economic conditions, the early years of a childâs life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.